My New Job

Last January, I got a phone message from a good friend who I used to work with. She had moved to Denver with her husband while he worked on his degree. She had called to ask me a question about a math problem that she was too tired to figure out on her own, (oh gosh do I know how that goes!) Once Joe and I had completed the problem, I asked her where she is working and ... how I could be involved.

It's called Step to Success. It's an online learning program. She and I both contacted the director of the program to try to get me started! The site was still hugely in the developmental stage and I was told that they were very interested in working with me, but alas, I had to wait. From the get go, I felt awesome about this program. That this program would greatly help me in my goal to stay home with my son. I waited the summer and early fall out ... and finally I got to start at the beginning of November!

I love it! Right now, I'm tutoring reading to 2nd and 3rd graders in Denver. It's a government grant that helps these kids read. You may be thinking what I was thinking .... how do you tutor reading over the Internet? Basically, what we do is go to a meeting center where we are able to both work on my desktop. We play online games that tracks their progress. Several times throughout the 21 session program we give them assessments to see how much they have progressed. After 10 sessions, all of my students have gained at least a 1/2 grade level in their reading. Some even gained more than a full year!

Soon, I hope, I'll be able to work with more math students, but for now ... I feel like I'm helping to make a difference in some of these kid's lives. And I'm having a great time doing it. We are about 75% done with the first batch of kids, and I'm going to be sad to see them go!!